What Happened On This Day October 16 In F1 History?

What happened on this day, October 16 in Formula 1 history? Find out interesting facts and stories about Formula 1 on this day.

1918

Tony Rolt, born on this day in Borden, Hampshire, took part in the first world championship race at Silverstone in 1950, and, at the time of his death in 2008, he was the last survivor of that day. He was a successful driver before World War II (during which he was awarded the MC and spent time as a POW in Colditz), but he only raced in three F1 championship races in total. He won the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans but quit racing after the 1955 Le Mans tragedy, moving into engineering.

By the early 1960s, Rolt and engineering firm FF Developments committed to building a four-wheel-drive (4WD) racing car to showcase the advantages of this technology. Rolt played a key role in both the design and testing of the resulting Ferguson P99.

The P99, entered under the Rob Walker Racing banner, made history as the only 4WD car to win a Formula One race—albeit a non-championship event—when Stirling Moss drove it to victory at the 1961 Oulton Park Gold Cup.

1994

Benetton driver Michael Schumacher returned from a two-race ban for ignoring a black flag at Silverstone to take the win at the 1994 European Grand Prix at Jerez, and in doing so stopped Damon Hill‘s title bid who finished in second, which had been buoyed by three successive wins, in its tracks. Hill’s Williams team-mate, Nigel Mansell, also returned for this race, but his day ended when he spun off while languishing nearer the back of the field than the front. Mika Hakkinen completed the podium in third for McLaren.

In the second Sauber, Andrea de Cesaris made his 208th and final Grand Prix start.

1994 European Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Michael Schumacher	Benetton Ford	69	1:40:26.689	10
2	0	Damon Hill	Williams Renault	69	+24.689s	6
3	7	Mika Hakkinen	McLaren Peugeot	69	+69.648s	4
4	15	Eddie Irvine	Jordan Hart	69	+78.446s	3
5	28	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	68	+1 lap	2
6	30	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Sauber Mercedes	68	+1 lap	1
7	3	Ukyo Katayama	Tyrrell Yamaha	68	+1 lap	0
8	25	Johnny Herbert	Ligier Renault	68	+1 lap	0
9	26	Olivier Panis	Ligier Renault	68	+1 lap	0
10	27	Jean Alesi	Ferrari	68	+1 lap	0
11	10	Gianni Morbidelli	Footwork Ford	68	+1 lap	0
12	14	Rubens Barrichello	Jordan Hart	68	+1 lap	0
13	4	Mark Blundell	Tyrrell Yamaha	68	+1 lap	0
14	24	Michele Alboreto	Minardi Ford	67	+2 laps	0
15	23	Pierluigi Martini	Minardi Ford	67	+2 laps	0
16	12	Alessandro Zanardi	Lotus Mugen Honda	67	+2 laps	0
17	9	Christian Fittipaldi	Footwork Ford	66	+3 laps	0
18	11	Eric Bernard	Lotus Mugen Honda	66	+3 laps	0
19	32	Domenico Schiattarella	Simtek Ford	64	+5 laps	0
NC	2	Nigel Mansell	Williams Renault	47	DNF	0
NC	31	David Brabham	Simtek Ford	42	DNF	0
NC	29	Andrea de Cesaris	Sauber Mercedes	37	DNF	0
NC	20	Erik Comas	Larrousse Ford	37	DNF	0
NC	6	Jos Verstappen	Benetton Ford	15	DNF	0
NC	19	Hideki Noda	Jordan Hart	10	DNF	0
NC	8	Martin Brundle	McLaren Peugeot	8	DNF	0

2005

Fernando Alonso rounded off his championship-winning season by taking the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix, ensuring Renault also won the 2005 Constructors’ Championship. Starting from pole, he built a 20-second lead before two safety-car periods brought the field closer, but he still eased home by four seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen driving for McLaren. “All season has been a dream come true, but for Renault even more because it is only four years since they came into Formula One, and now we are champions,” Alonso said. “It was not an easy job to do.” Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher ended the year on an unusual note, colliding with the Minardi of Christijan Albers on the installation lap, forcing both cars to be abandoned, and the drivers started from the pit lane using their spare cars. “The weird ending pretty much sums up our season,” Schumacher said. Ralf Schumacher, driving for Toyota at the time, claimed third place.

2005 Chinese Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	56	1:39:53.618	10
2	9	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes	56	+4.015s	8
3	17	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	56	+25.376s	6
4	6	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	56	+26.114s	5
5	15	Christian Klien	RBR Cosworth	56	+31.839s	4
6	12	Felipe Massa	Sauber Petronas	56	+36.400s	3
7	7	Mark Webber	Williams BMW	56	+36.842s	2
8	3	Jenson Button	BAR Honda	56	+41.249s	1
9	14	David Coulthard	RBR Cosworth	56	+44.247s	0
10	11	Jacques Villeneuve	Sauber Petronas	56	+59.977s	0
11	18	Tiago Monteiro	Jordan Toyota	56	+84.648s	0
12	2	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	56	+92.812s	0
13	8	Antonio Pizzonia	Williams BMW	55	DNF	0
14	20	Robert Doornbos	Minardi Cosworth	55	+1 lap	0
15	16	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	55	+1 lap	0
16	21	Christijan Albers	Minardi Cosworth	51	+5 laps	0
NC	4	Takuma Sato	BAR Honda	34	DNF	0
NC	19	Narain Karthikeyan	Jordan Toyota	28	DNF	0
NC	10	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren Mercedes	24	DNF	0
NC	1	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	22	DNF	0

2011

The 2011 Korean Grand Prix saw Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing dominate the race, taking his 10th win of the season. Vettel secured victory with a commanding performance, finishing ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who started from pole but couldn’t match Vettel’s race pace. Hamilton finished second, while Red Bull’s Mark Webber completed the podium in third place after battling with Hamilton during the race. Webber and Hamilton went wheel-to-wheel multiple times, but Hamilton managed to fend off Webber to secure second. The race also featured a first-lap collision involving Vitaly Petrov and Michael Schumacher, which forced both drivers to retire early. Red Bull’s victory in Korea secured their second consecutive Constructors’ Championship. It was also the McLaren team’s 700th Grand Prix.

2011 Korean Grand Prix Race Results

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	55	1:38:01.994	25
2	3	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	55	+12.019s	18
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	55	+12.477s	15
4	4	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	55	+14.694s	12
5	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	55	+15.689s	10
6	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	55	+25.133s	8
7	19	Jaime Alguersuari	STR Ferrari	55	+49.538s	6
8	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	55	+54.053s	4
9	18	Sebastien Buemi	STR Ferrari	55	+62.762s	2
10	15	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	55	+68.602s	1
11	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	55	+71.229s	0
12	11	Rubens Barrichello	Williams Cosworth	55	+93.068s	0
13	9	Bruno Senna	Renault	54	+1 lap	0
14	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Renault	54	+1 lap	0
15	16	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber Ferrari	54	+1 lap	0
16	17	Sergio Perez	Sauber Ferrari	54	+1 lap	0
17	21	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Renault	54	+1 lap	0
18	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Cosworth	54	+1 lap	0
19	22	Daniel Ricciardo	HRT Cosworth	54	+1 lap	0
20	25	Jerome d’Ambrosio	Virgin Cosworth	54	+1 lap	0
21	23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	HRT Cosworth	52	+3 laps	0
NC	12	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Cosworth	30	DNF	0
NC	10	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	16	DNF	0
NC	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	15	DNF	0

F1 Driver Birthdays 16 October

Birthday	F1 Driver
16 October 1914	Joel Thorne (d. 1955)
16 October 1918	Tony Rolt (d. 2008)
16 October 1934	Peter Ashdown
16 October 1997	Charles Leclerc

F1 Driver Deaths 16 October

Death	F1 Driver
16 October	None

F1 Champion 16 October

Date	Team/Driver
16 October 2005	Renault
16 October 2011	Red Bull Racing